I am new to lifting weights and still getting familiar with form on the big three exercises (squat, bench, deadlift). I started off with 65 lb flat barbell bench and struggled doing 3 sets of 12. I made a little bit of progress on the flat bench and eventually got to where I could bench 95 lb. But it took a long time.
I switched to incline bench for awhile and it seemed like I made a lot of progress on the incline to a point where I was doing 135 lbs for 3 or 4 reps. Now that I switched back to the flat bench my lifting partner told me to use at least a 45 and and a ten on each side (155lb) because the flat bench is always stronger than the incline.
Wow, I could barely get this up with someone spotting me. I don’t know why, but the incline always feels very natural to me. It feels like I explode with force when I lift from the incline. The flat bench always feels awkward. When I lift heavy, it seems like the weight goes up a little bit jerky. Instead of the weight going up evenly, the weight on one side goes up a little more than the other, and then the other side goes up a little bit higher.
I am guessing this is due to a weak point in my body. But what is the weak point? And which exercise can I do to correct this?
Sounds like it’s easier for you to stay tight and use leg drive on the incline bench. On the flat bench make sure you have a nice tight arch in your back, pull your shoulder blades together, and brace your abs during the entire movement.
Practice the flat bench press with just the bar until you press it explosively while staying tight. Then keep upping the weight.
How much do you shoulder press? My incline is much higher than my flat because I can shoulder press more than I can bench, and shoulders get to come in more in incline
You just need to practice bench press a little while. It’s likely you just don’t have the movement down as well as incline.
You have very strong shoulders (perhaps fast twitch) and they became very strong and made your incline press stronger. I have disproportionate shoulders and I love incline. I don’t think I can do more but I can do more on incline than most people at my same flat bench strength level. If this is the case for you you might want to even consider doing decline bench a while to take your shoulders completely out of it.
[quote]jpuck wrote:
I think it’s the combination of two things.
You just need to practice bench press a little while. It’s likely you just don’t have the movement down as well as incline.
You have very strong shoulders (perhaps fast twitch) and they became very strong and made your incline press stronger. I have disproportionate shoulders and I love incline. I don’t think I can do more but I can do more on incline than most people at my same flat bench strength level. If this is the case for you you might want to even consider doing decline bench a while to take your shoulders completely out of it.
My 2 cents.
-J[/quote]
ill agree. I got strong shoulders and my incline and flat are pretty much the same give or take 10 lbs. either way. Nothing to be concerned about, just make them both bigger. thats all
Thanks for the replies. I will start doing some decline bench presses to bring better balance. I think I am also going to do some german volume training on the flat bench. I think this should be good for me, since I will have better control with lighter weights.
I am the same way to some extent. For awhile I switched over to nothing but barbell incline, then when I tried to do some regular old flat barbell bench…I sucked. I think its just your body getting used to a specific motion and excelling at it, while at the same time your body loses that “feeling” for a different motion.
I recently read an article that mentioned if you tend to have a weak flat bench its likely due to weak shoulders and therefore your incline will be stronger. This is certainly the case for me so I’m really working on strengthening my shoulders.
[quote]eigieinhamr wrote:
Ohhh sorry misread what you were saying. I though you were saying if you have weak shoulders then your flat bench is better than incline.[/quote]
I just pulled out Arnold’s Encyclopedia…page 259 for those of you who have the book. This is what he says about delts…
“The delts respond well to working w/heavy weights. This helps your overall development because so many other power exercises – from BENCH PRESS to deadlifts to bent over row – require a lot of strength.”
He goes on to state he starts beginners out with the clean and press because it works additional muscles and lays the foundation for advanced training. He also mentions the delts responde to heavy weights.
Personally I have to use very light weight when doing front and side raises (3-5lb dumbbells). However I can shoulder press around 55lbs…been awhile since I’ve done them…and I’m still a beginner!
I use 115lb on my incline for 3 sets of 6-10. Then I use 135lb for two sets for whatever I can manage. This is usually 3 or 4 reps and maybe a couple negatives.
[quote]D Public wrote:
you are new to training, so dont look into things so much…
if you want a strong bench, than train flat bench. If you want to do inclines, you can do incline bench after flat bench.
its that simple…
[/quote]
Im the beginner and do not want to step on anyone’s toes, so please feel free to tell me to shut up at any time, however, I wanted to respond to this and I hope it’s half way intelligent…
Back to the point of the article I mentioned before…
In having a successful heavy flat bench you must have shoulders to push the weight. Therefore its imperative to have strong front delts. If the guy never strengthens his shoulders more then likely his flat bench will not progress as quickly or an heavy as it could.
The incline bench uses more than the front delt. That’s why his incline is stronger.
but, I think his tricep strength is probably lacking. His upper back and lats may also be weak because the incline gives you more support than a regular flat bench. I didn’t mention that because i think he could probably fix his problem by doing more flat bench since he is a beginner.
the only thing i would probably do to fix this in addition to more flat bench is DB tricep extensions preferably lying db extensions…
